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SPEAKERS

EXCLUSIVE SPEAKERS AT RETAIL RISK – NEW YORK

This year’s Retail Risk – New York already features top retail LP experts, with more to be announced. Take the opportunity to question them, discuss what challenges you share and understand how they are successfully dealing with them…

Welcome to Retail Risk – New York 2017.

It is my pleasure to introduce myself as this year’s Chair for Retail Risk – New York.

More about Christopher…

Christopher McDonald is the Senior Vice President of Loss Prevention for Compass Group, NAD. Compass Group is the world leader in commercial food and hospitality services. With over 10,000 accounts and $24B in annual sales McDonald oversees multiple aspects of all loss prevention efforts within the company. Previous to Compass, McDonald oversaw loss prevention efforts at companies such as Dollar General, Toys R’ Us, and Babies R’ Us, as well as being a part of LP teams at Office Depot and Hartmarx Retail group. With over 20 years in the industry, he serves on the Editorial Board for Loss Prevention Magazine, as well as holding a seat on the board of the International Association of Interviewers (IAI). He is a published author and has numerous other industry affiliations all focused on driving education and professional standards within the loss prevention industry. McDonald is a graduate of the University of Georgia and resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

In Megatrends in Loss Prevention our panel of widely respected LP experts are perfectly placed to look into the future and share with you their visions for what key changes will affect your business, and your job, in the coming year and beyond.

He said, she said… Now what?: David Thompson, VP of Operations, Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates, Inc.

Often times, LP professionals are tasked with a case that may be classified as employee relations issues. These are some of the most difficult investigations, primarily because of the nature of the case and the pure lack of evidence. Investigations into theft, fraud or more severe crimes are typically supported by documentation, surveillance or other tangible evidence. The sexual harassment claim, a workplace violence threat or bullying typically only supply the investigator with a witnesses account of what happened. Hearing multiple versions of the same story, with different perspectives and biases can make an HR professional’s investigation collapse and remain unfounded. Learn from the tools used by Certified Forensic Interviewers (CFI) to interview victims, witnesses or the alleged when attempting to identify the truth.

The techniques discussed will be derived from the Cognitive Interview (CI), which is based on scientifically derived principles of memory and communication theory. The CI has been found in scientific studies to produce significantly more information than standard Q&A questioning. This interactive session will discuss biases, active listening and proper questioning techniques as they apply to sexual abuse and sexual harassment cases.

More about David…

David Thompson, CFI, is the Vice President of Operations with Wicklander- Zulawski & Associates, Inc. (WZ). He is responsible for the day to day operations of WZ, as well as strategic planning in product offerings and the evolution of interview and interrogation content. David has also served as the Director of Investigations for WZ giving him the opportunity to manage a variety of cases while conducting interviews and consulting on investigations ranging from theft and fraud to sexual harassment and homicide. As a speaker for WZ, David has created customized training programs, presented at seminars, hosted a variety of webinars as well as conducted live broadcasts of training. He is also an active member of the International Association of Interviews (IAI) and has contributed blogs, video tips and published several articles to support the continuing education of its members.

While at WZ, David has also played an integral role in the ongoing research and evolution of content and innovative teaching methods. Developing training that is presented in a virtual broadcast venue, creating more opportunities for distance learning and contributing to some of WZ’s newest technology including a simulated interrogation system are a few of the projects David has been involved in. David has also worked with members of the Innocence Project, Center for Wrongful Conviction of Youth and other academic partners on behalf of WZ to further the enhancement of interview and interrogation protocols throughout the US. David has contributed opinions on behalf of WZ for a variety of cases, and has been cited by the Federal Court of Appeals for his involvement on the topic of interview and interrogation.

LP Teams are constantly striving to do more in order to broaden their impact within the organization and show a greater ROI as an overall business partner. Luis Malave with Lucky Brands will be sharing the various avenues where he is finding value and partnering within his organization. Certain to be a topic of interest for all, from mobile POS to order fulfillment and beyond – come listen to Luis describe his journey, obstacles, and progress thus far.

Everything you wanted to know about Predictive Analytics but were afraid to ask: An executive panel discussion

Three panellists from varied retail backgrounds will talk about how they are working with Data Analytics in their businesses for both prescriptive and proactive business needs. What does it all mean and have we moved beyond simple POS activity reporting? We will be discussing their company paths and data paths they have discovered to be of most value. Looking at yesterday’s world, today’s status, and where we should head tomorrow, we will address what data is most useful, where does it come from, and how do we move it from being an ‘LP’ tool to a ‘Business’ tool. And not to forget; how should we be selling this to the C-suite to ensure the right message is conveyed. This and much, much more. Make sure you are part of this conversation!

Be among the first to take part – and benefit from – the Retail Risk – Global Survey. Since 2011 Retail Knowledge’s surveys of retailers primarily in the US, UK and Australia have become an indispensable tool for the industry to benchmark operations and find practical ways to beat fraudsters. Now the survey is going global, real time and widening its remit to cover the risk arena – to produce the most timely, accurate and relevant material ever available on all aspects of retail risk.

Using latest polling technology, the survey canvasses information from delegates at the conference and publishes the results in real time at the event. The material is then compiled into a detailed report.

In her presentation Ardita demonstrates how she has taken a combination of data used in other areas of the business, converting it into a global LP framework from store level to executive level. Her focus is on proactively highlighting profit erosion, non-compliance and fraud/theft, as well as providing supporting data to enable effective performance improvement in each market across all brands.

More about Ardita…

Ardita Halili joined Swarovski in 2014, where she is responsible for the development, tracking and forecasting of financial data with specific focus on proactively highlighting profit erosion, non-compliance and fraud/theft, as well as providing supporting data to enable effective performance improvement in each market across all brands.

Ardita has many years of experience from a financial analyst background, whilst achieving a BA (Hons) in Business Management and part qualification in CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants). In her most recent role at The Carphone Warehouse, she worked as a Senior Financial Analyst for UK and Europe.